Internal-combustion engine.



W. B. S. WHALEY.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED Dim-10.1914.

Patented. July 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 WIT ESSES I VENTOR 40,412

Allomey W. B. S. WHALEY.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. I

APPLICATION FILED DEC- 10, I914.

Patented July 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

T". TX. 4 5

as" 3/ WM 9 WILLIAM B. S. WHALEY, OF TULSA, OKLAHOMA, ASSIGNORgBY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO OK REVERSING GAS ENGINE COMPANY, OF" TULSA, OKLAHOMA,

A CORYOBATION OF OKLAHOMA.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

menace.

Specification of Letters Batent.

Patented July 18, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM B. S. WHALEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Tulsa, in the county of Tulsa and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Intermil-Combustion Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in internal combustion engines, and more particularly to timing and pneumatic starting means, one object of the invention being to so construct and arrange electric timing mechanism for automatically controlling the engine, that its parts shall be so arranged that the ignition of the charge shall be so timed, by the manipulation of a lever at the will of the operator, as to cause the engine to operate in one direction or the other, and at the same time, so control the generation of the spark during the automatic operation of the device, that ignition of the charge will be caused irrespective of the position in which the crank may have stopped; from within five degrees .of the exhaust opening, to within thirty degrees before the crank has reached a dead center; to propel thepiston when in either of these positions (or in any intermediate position) and cause the engine to start, and so thatby moving the controlling lever in the opposite direction, the engine will be caused to operate in the reverse direction.

A further object is to provide improved means for imparting initial air pressure for insuring the starting of the engine, in either direction, and to so construct and arrange such pneumatic starting means that the same shall be operable in conjunction with and as auxiliary to the spark controlling means, so that each of saidmeans may reinforce or augment the operation of the other, and so that the pneumatic starting means shall actuate the engine in the event that the cylinders shall not containan adequate explosive mixture to enable the engine to be started on the spark.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts as hereinafter set forth and pointed out in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 1s a cross section showing the air starting mechanism; Fig. 2 is an end view, looking from the electr1c timing means toward the is a detail view of the coupling device for permitting the manual manipulation of the movable contact member of the timer.

1 represents a frame adapted for attachment tothe frame of an engine, and to said frame 1, the casting 2 is secured, said casting serving as a housing and providing suitable mountings for the parts of the combined valve and timer mechanism embodying my improvements. At one end, the casting 2 is provided interiorly with a circular lining 3, having a plurality of ports communicating with an equal number of ducts formed in the casting,the number of such ports and ducts corresponding with the number of cylinders in the engine to which my improvements may be applied. In the drawing, the circular lining 3 is shown with three ports 4, 5 and 6 and an equal number of ducts 7, 8 and 9 are illustrated,-said ducts being formed at their upper ends for attachment of suitable pipes (not shown) to communicate with the several cylinders of the engine.

An air valve 10 is mounted to rotate within the circular lining 3 which constitutes its seat, and this vvalve is rigidly secured to an operating shaft 11,the latter also extending into a cavity 12 of the casting 2 and carrying the movable contact members of the electrical timing mechanism, as hereinafter more fully explained,

The shaft 11 may be driven in any suitable manner from the engineshaft.

outer end of spring 26.

The valve 10 is-provided with two elongated ports 13-44 disposed approximately opposite each other, and these ports are so proportioned with relation to the ports 4, 5, '6, that at least one of the ports 13 or 14 to form air ducts 16, 17, the lower portions of which latter are formed in the casting 2 so as to communicate with a valve casing 18 formed as a depending extension of said casting. The valve casing 18 is adapted at its lower end for attachment. of an air supply pipe (not shown) from a convenient source of supply of compressed air. A valve 19 is located within the casing 18 for controlling the passage of air to-one or the other of the ducts 16 or 17. This valve 19 may be conveniently made-in the form of a conical plug having a transverse duct or passage 20 and may be held properly to Its seat by the action of a spring 21. The stem of the plug valve may be extended laterally from the bearing of said valve in the easing, for the reception of an operating lever 22 to facilitate its manual manipulation.

Secured within cavity 12 of the casting 2, is a ring 23 of insulating'material and carries the stationary contacts of the electrical timing mechanism. In constructing these contacts, (three being shown in the drawing) I provide a plurality of metal tubes or cages 24 mounted in and passing radially through the wall of the insulating ring. The inner end of the bore of each tube or cage 24 is somewhat contracted to form a'seat for a contact ball 25, the latter being normally forced against its seat by,

the action of a coiled spring 26 located within the case. The outer end of each cage is made with a shoulder 27 coimtersunk into the insulating ring. Over each cage and in electrical contact therewith is a plate 28 countersunk into the material of the ring and having its outer face conforming to the contour of said ring,said plate being secured in place by fastening devices 29, and serving also as an abutment for the The casing 2 may be provided with an opening 30 through which the wiring for the electrical contacts may be led.

The movable contact member of theelectrical timing devices is mounted on the operating shaft 11 as previously mentioned, and comprises an elongated sleeve or barrel 31 mounted to slide on the shaft 11. In order that said sleeve or barrel shall be caused to rotate with'the shaft 11, a pin 32 is passed transversely through said sleeve aae i aee or barrel and through an elongated slot 33 in the shaft. The sleeve or barrel is made with two spirally arranged contact flanges 34, 35. By reference-to Figs. 4, 9 and 10, it will be observed that the contact flanges 34, 35, cover certain portions of the arc of revolution of the member 31, and are oppositely pitched and turned, in the direction d(: for one movement of the engine, or in the direction fe for the other movement of the engine,the point 0 or cl always leading ahead of the crank of the engine, so that the line a-b would represent the center position of the crank or the position of the crank of no lead of the spark. At such time the air valve 19 should be caused to assume the position shown in Fig. 3. In order that the movable member of the timing mechanism may be manually shifted forwardly or rearwardly,'a two part coupling member 36 is mounted in the casting 2 and embraces one end portion of the contact barrel or member 31,-the latter being provided with a circumferential groove 37 to receive a flange 38 in the coupling member, whereby said contact barrel may be permitted to rotate and to be shifted longitudinally when the coupling member is operated. Projecting arms 39 of coupling 36 serve to receive between them, an operating lever 40 pivoted to an arm 41 on the head 42 of casting 2, and in order that the movable member of the timing mechanism and the air valve 19 may be operated simultaneously, the lever 40 is connected with the lever 22 by a rod 43, which may extend to suitably located normally operable means not shown.

Referring again to Figs. 4, 9 and 10 it will be observed that fromthe line ab to the points d or f of the timing mechanism, represents the maximum length of are after the crank of thesengine has passed the center that electrical contact will be made, and similarly the lengths of the ports 8 and 9 represent the limit of arc in which the air will be admitted behind the piston. By in spection of the position of the valve 19 in Fig. 3 and the corresponding positions of the contact flanges 3435 on the member 31, it will be seen that upon sliding the member 31 in either direction from the central position, it will bring-either flange 34 or 35 in contact with the contact balls 25 and close the electrical circuits of the sparking mechanism. At the same time the valve 19 will be turned so as to aline the duct 20 therein with the air inlet portion of the casing 18 and one or the other of the ducts 16 or 17 and thus delivering air under pressure to one or the other of theducts 13 or 14 of the valve 10 and admitting such air through one of the ducts 7, 8, 9 to one of the cylinders for moving the piston therein to start the engine. The ducts 13 and 14 of valve 10 always lie open to one cylinder, so that at no time are these passages not open to one or another cylinder in the desired'direction. When the port 4; is closed, port 5 or 6 will alwaysbe open,'causing air pressure to drive the piston in one of the cylinders in the desired direction, according to the passage 16 or 17 from which the air is ad- Havin mitted. I

With the use of my improvements, when the member 31 of the timing mechanism 1s slid in one direction or the other from its central position when the engine is at rest,

the sparking circuit of at least one of the engine cylinders will be closed and if such cylinder contain a suificient charge of explosive mixture (left therein at the conclusion of a previous operation of the engine) the engine would be caused to start on the spark. It frequently happens however, that such cylinder may not contain a proper explosive charge to accomplish the starting of the engine- 0n the spark, butwith my im-'- provement's, the air valve 19 will be shifted simultaneously with the manipulation of the timing mechanism, and the cylinder will be supplied with sufiicient air pressure to start the engine. In fact, the explosion of a more or less effective charge in a cylinder may augment the operation of the air pressure, and each supplement the action ofthe other to accomplish the starting of theengine, in

either direction which may be the desire of the operator.

tails of construction of the mechanism without departing from the spirit of my invention or limiting its scope, and hence I do not wish to restrict myself to the precise details fherein set forth. 1

fully described my invention a what I c aim as new anddesire to secure by Letters'Pateiit,"is:- I

Various changes might be made in the de-.

1; The combination with the shaft of the electric timing mechanism for an internal combustion engine, of a valve secured to said shaft of the timing mechanism, a c'asing inclosing and carried by the valve and having air ducts for controlling thepassage .of compressed air to cylinders of an engine for starting the latter, a manually controlled ,air valve, and manually controlled means connected with said manually con trolled air valve and also with a member of" the timing mechanism whereby both may be shifted simultaneously.

2. The combination with a casting provided with an annular valve seat and air outlet ducts communicating therewith, of a valve in 'saidseat, a shaft to which said valve is secured, electric timing mechanism in said casting having its stationary contact member fixed therein and having its movable member mounted on said shaft, means for shifting said movable member to initially close a sparking circuit, means for controlling a supply of compressed air through said valve to the engine for starting the same, and connections whereby said shifting and controlling means may be operated simultaneously.

3. The combination with the shaft of tim- 

